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Seafile

Seafile is your new cloud drive inside My Own Suite. It focuses on one thing and does it really well: private file storage, sync, and sharing. Your files stay in one place, stay available across devices, and stay easy to share when you need to work with other people. If you are coming from Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or iCloud Drive, this is the familiar kind of experience, just under your control instead.

Seafile library grid view showing organized folders inside a self-hosted private cloud workspace. +3 more
Private Cloud Library View A polished overview of the Seafile workspace, showing how folders, shared libraries, and day-to-day file organization look inside a self-hosted cloud drive.

What it is

Seafile is the place where your files live.

It gives you a private cloud drive where you can keep documents, photos, spreadsheets, PDFs, and everyday work files without scattering them across devices. Open them from the browser, keep them in sync on your computer, access them from your phone, and share them with the people who actually need access.

  • one place for your files in your own private cloud
  • sync across desktop and mobile when you want files everywhere
  • open documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly in the browser and collaborate on them without downloading first
  • file and folder sharing without giving away your entire drive

Seafile is not just where files are stored. It is where they stay organized, where they are shared from, and where the suite hands them off to ONLYOFFICE for editing in the browser.

What makes it a good fit here

Seafile works well in this stack because it stays focused on the file side of the experience.

  • it gives you a private cloud drive that feels current and easy to understand
  • it works across web, desktop, and mobile, so your files are not locked to one device
  • it handles sharing and day-to-day organization cleanly instead of turning the drive into a bloated all-in-one workspace
  • it connects naturally to ONLYOFFICE, which is what makes browser-based editing feel like part of one workflow instead of a bolted-on extra

Why it was picked for this stack

Seafile was picked because it is focused, polished, and built for exactly the kind of workflow this stack is trying to create.

  • The team behind it is focused on one job: making a great open source solution for private file sync, sharing, and backup-style day-to-day storage. No unnecessary filler. No trying to be ten products at once.
  • It has the kind of modern, solid experience people expect from a cloud drive today. It works across web, desktop, and mobile, and it feels familiar from the start.
  • It integrates naturally with ONLYOFFICE, which is a huge part of the value here. Files live in Seafile, then open directly in the browser when you want to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations.
  • It is proven. Seafile has been around since 2012, is widely used, and has had years to mature into a dependable product rather than a promising experiment.

That is why it fits this stack so well. It gives you a private cloud drive that feels current, works across platforms, connects cleanly to browser-based editing, and comes with a long track record behind it.

If you want the full story behind why Seafile made the cut for this stack, read Goodbye Google Drive: My self-hosted Drive and Docs replacement.

That article breaks it down even further: what I tested before this, where those setups fell short for this exact workflow, and why Seafile + ONLYOFFICE is the first combination I am actually switching to instead of just evaluating.

Want a quick demo first?

If you want to test the file-sync + browser-editing workflow in isolation before committing to the full suite, you can use the standalone Seafile + ONLYOFFICE Railway template.

Deploy on Railway

That gives you a fast way to try this part of My Own Suite on its own. If you want the full setup, use the main Getting started and deployment guides instead.

Technical reference

Environment variables

  • DB_HOST: MySQL host for Seafile.
  • DB_PORT: MySQL port (typically 3306).
  • DB_ROOT_PASSWD: MySQL root password used for Seafile bootstrap.
  • DB_USER_HOST: Host pattern for Seafile DB grants (recommended %).
  • MEMCACHED_SERVER: Memcached endpoint in host:port format.
  • SEAFILE_ADMIN_EMAIL: Initial Seafile admin email.
  • SEAFILE_ADMIN_PASSWORD: Initial Seafile admin password.
  • SEAFILE_SERVER_HOSTNAME: Public Seafile hostname (no protocol).
  • SEAFILE_SERVER_PROTOCOL: Public scheme (http or https).
  • TIME_ZONE: Container timezone.
  • VERIFY_ONLYOFFICE_CERTIFICATE: Toggle TLS verification for ONLYOFFICE callbacks.
  • ONLYOFFICE_APIJS_URL: ONLYOFFICE Docs API JS URL. Enables ONLYOFFICE integration when set.
  • ONLYOFFICE_FORCE_SAVE: Enables/disables ONLYOFFICE force-save behavior.
  • ONLYOFFICE_INTERNAL_SEAFILE_URL: Internal Seafile URL for ONLYOFFICE server-to-server traffic.
  • ONLYOFFICE_JWT_SECRET: JWT secret for ONLYOFFICE integration when JWT is enabled.
  • Shared SMTP inputs from deploy/vps/services/suite-manager/.env when enabled:
    • SMTP_ENABLED
    • SMTP_HOST
    • SMTP_PORT
    • SMTP_SECURITY (starttls, force_tls, or off)
    • SMTP_USERNAME
    • SMTP_PASSWORD
    • SMTP_FROM

Volumes and persistence

  • Required volume mount: /shared
  • Without /shared, config and runtime state can drift across restarts.

Dependencies and integrations

Requirements:

  • Use MySQL 8.x (recommended mysql:8.0).
  • Provide a reachable Memcached server (host:port).
  • Mount persistent storage at /shared for Seafile data and config.

Integrations:

  • Works with ONLYOFFICE for in-browser document editing.
  • Can reuse the shared stack SMTP settings for password resets and share-link email delivery.

Optional SMTP behavior

  • SMTP is fully optional and is intended for operators who already have access to an SMTP server.
  • When SMTP_ENABLED=true, the shared SMTP values from deploy/vps/services/suite-manager/.env are written into seahub_settings.py at container start.
  • Typical SMTP-backed Seafile features include password reset mail, share-link delivery, and other notification-style emails.
  • The canonical setup and troubleshooting guide lives in the dedicated advanced SMTP doc: Optional email with SMTP.
  • If mail-related actions appear to hang, Seafile may be waiting on the SMTP server during the live request path.

Customizations in this project

  • Entry-point patches seahub_settings.py with proxy, ONLYOFFICE, and optional SMTP settings.
  • Adds runtime patching for ONLYOFFICE internal callback/download URL handling.
  • Patch targets are version-sensitive and should be revalidated after Seafile image upgrades.